1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an industrial truck with a lifting device that has a load bearing implement that can be raised and lowered and is provided with at least one fork-shaped load handling attachment and also has a towing device for the transport of trailers.
2. Technical Considerations
The internal transport of goods and flow of materials, in particular the supply of materials to production lines in production plants, is generally accomplished by trailers on which the goods are transported inside the production plant, in particular by means of palettes.
To pull one or more of these trailers, industrial trucks in the form of industrial tractors are used, which are equipped with a towing device to which one or more trailers can be attached. Industrial tractors of this type have compact dimensions. As a result of which, the transport trailers can be transported safely over the narrow transport paths inside the production plant.
For the loading and unloading of the trailers, industrial trucks in the form of fork lift trucks are used which are provided with a lifting device, such as a lift mast, on which a fork carrier that has fork arms is located so that it can be raised and lowered. Fork lift trucks are generally provided with a towing device in the area opposite the lift mast. Because the fork arms project forward in the direction of travel, fork lift trucks of this type take up a great deal of space in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. As a result of which, such fork lift trucks can be used only to a limited extent to pull trailers for the transport of goods and the flow of materials on the narrow transport paths inside a production plant.
Consequently, two industrial trucks are required for the internal transport of goods and the flow of materials inside a production plant. The transport trailers are towed inside the production plant using the industrial tractor and the transport trailers are loaded and unloaded using a fork lift truck.
Because two different industrial trucks must be used, which must generally be operated by two different operators, the internal transport of goods and the flow of materials inside a production plant is a complex, time-consuming and expensive operation.
It is an object of this invention to provide an industrial truck with which the internal transport of goods and flow of materials can be handled more easily, more quickly and less expensively compared to the use of conventional vehicles.